Waste Management and Petrolia strike leachate treatment deal

Once Petrolia’s new wastewater treatment plant is complete, Waste Management will use it to treat leachate from the landfill.

Petrolia Town Council passed a bylaw outlining the conditions in which Waste Management can use the plant Monday.

Mike Thompson, director of operations, says when the landfill was sold, over twenty years ago, the agreement contained a clause which permitted the company to bring its waste water to Petrolia to be treated for free.

But the town’s plant was aging and unable to handle the influx of leachate so Waste Management trucked its leachate to Chatham instead.

But with the construction of the $25 million plant, the town and Waste Management reached a deal to provide the service locally.

Thompson says the company will build the pipeline along road allowance to bring leachate to the waste water treatment plant.

It will pay $520,000 for equipment needed just for treating the landfill waste. It will also pay a one-time $250,000 hookup fee.

The company will still have the first 15,000 square metres per year treated for free.

It will be charged the current sewer charge for anything beyond that however Thompson says that is not expected.

The bylaw also lays out the maximum concentrations of a number of chemicals which can come into the plant.

It also places the onus on the company to tell the town’s operator if it exceeds the limits.

Waste Management is also setting up a $15,000 Community Fund as part of the deal.

It will provide the cash to be used in community projects for up to ten years, as long as the company continues to be the town’s contracted collector of residential waste.

Thompson says the agreement is good for the town because it ensures the company pays for additional capital costs to treat the waste and provides up front cash to the municipality.